Time and Time Again
by Bella4
Summary: Jareth has to be taught a lesson, and it comes from a very unlikely source.


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AN: Pity our favorite Goblin King, who seems to have gotten himself into quite a mess! This is my slightly comical take on Jareth's point of view. He is reeeaaaallllly whiny here. *Grins at the grouchy figure in the corner* It's a train of thought piece, so I wrote it in the style that it came to me. It may seem a little disjointed, but your thoughts would be too if you were doomed to relive one day in your life, over and over and over again.....

Thank you, Dawn, for helping me sort out the mess that it was before!

**Time and Time Again**

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away. Right now."

That is how it always starts. I think that I am doomed to hear those words forever and ever. When I sleep, when I am awake, when I am doing things not even remotely connect to my duties as the Goblin Lord. I hear them.

I didn't always used to dread the words. There were times when I actually enjoyed the thought of traveling to the human world to take an unwanted child. Now, I hate it. Why must it be me that does this? Why can't someone else do it and leave me to my lonely world? Its not that I don't like being a king, I just hate the duties that go along with it. I know what it is like to be unloved, so I thought myself to be the natural choice for the job. Seems like my family thought the same way. None of them gave a hint of defiance when it was announced that I would be the Goblin King. 

When I heard them from her, it was the same. Another foolish girl who was convinced that there was something better out there for her. Poor thing. Doesn't she know that the human world is harsh and brutal? You have to be on your toes constantly or you will be run over by all of the fast paced fools who don't take time to appreciate the beauty of their surroundings. I'm glad that I was not born human. Although, I have to say that this girl was extraordinarily pretty. Not shockingly gorgeous, mind you, but she had an air about her that was not altogether human. It surprised me to find such a creature in the cold, mundane, human world.

We went about our dance, exactly the same as it always had been with the others. I frightened, I threatened, I wrecked havoc on her world. Then, she wrecked havoc in mine. How did I know that she possessed the power strong enough to defeat the Labyrinth which I had so proudly proclaimed unsolvable to all of my peers?

That was only the beginning.

I sent the foolish child home. I went to bed. Night became day, time passed. I heard the words again.

From her? Was she really that much of a glutton for punishment? 

I went to her again, and that is where things began to get weird.

There she was, standing in her parent's bedchamber. Terrified, unsure, no sign of recognition did she display on her features. I knew that there must be some sort of mistake. But, if the powers that be wanted me to play this game one more time, I decided to appease them. 

So it began again. Everything happening exactly the way that it had before. By the time we faced each other in the castle once more, I knew that I must be dreaming. Any minute now, I am going to wake and find that it was all a dream. It had to be. No one ever repeats the same day in their life.

But, I never woke up.

I displayed my power again, she solved again. I offered, she refused (gee, how did I know that was going to happen?) She remembered the words. I sent her home. I watched as she put away her childhood toys and celebrate her victory with her friends. I flew away, desperate for the comfort of my bed.

But comfort was not what I was to be met with.

The cycle continued. Countless times. I was growing rather irritated with the whole thing when I noticed something that I had never noticed before. Sitting in my throne room with the child in my lap, I remembered something so simple that it might have easily been overlooked. 

The child had welcomed me with open arms when I came for him. 

The first time, he was frightened. He cried, he fidgeted. He fussed. Now, when I took him, he smiled and giggled and held his arms out to me so that I could pick him up. 

Lively little chap. Maybe one of these times, his sister will forget what to do, and I really will get to keep him. Then, I will call him Jareth. 

Then again, maybe I will keep her instead. 

She had begun to grow on me. The way her eyes flashed when she was angry, the way her dark tresses spilled on to her shoulders just so. I tired of the routine. I did not tire of her. 

I began to invent new things to sat to her, never knowing how she would react. I changed my role in the game, she did not. She always said exactly the same things. Regardless of what I said. It was like she was not even aware of what I said or did. 

Then, it happened.

We were standing face to face once more. I had offered her everything, yet she was still determined to defy me. 

"Just fear me, love me, do as I say and I will be your slave."

That is when it happened.

She looked at me with a funny look in her eye, as if she knew something that I did not. "I don't want a slave, nor do I wish to fear you."

Wait a minute. 

That is not what she was supposed to say.

She was supposed to ignore me and go about trying to remember the words.

Eventually, things continued as they always did. She remembered, I sent her home. I watched her put away her childhood toys and celebrate her victory with her friends. I flew away, but I did not seek the comfort of my bed. 

I couldn't sleep, I had to think. I had to figure out what was going on in my life, such as it was. I couldn't really call living the same exact day over and over again a life. 

Restlessly, I paced. Nothing comforted me. I couldn't understand what was going on. I had relived our time together so many times that I knew every movement, every word, every slight gesture that she and I made. I had taken to watching her the entire time to see if she would slip up just once and show that things were indeed changing. She never did, apart from the odd sentence that she had said on our last encounter. 

What did it all mean? 

The goblins provided no help. They seemed to be caught in the same time warp that She did. Only the child and I knew that things were repeating themselves. It was all madness! I am the king for heaven's sake! I should not have to be subjected to this. 

Another day, another round with her. I think that I had begun to loose my sanity at one point. Each day made me increasingly frustrated with the whole situation, but still powerless to stop the cycle. I stopped the singing, the music, everything that was not directly involving her. If she wasn't with me, I was watching her. When she ate the peach for the umpteenth time, I wasted no time in pushing my way through the crowd and finding her. It didn't matter one way or another, they would just forget it all anyway. 

The music played, but I didn't sing. We just looked into one another's eyes for those few short minutes before she would realize that something was not right. Then she would break away from me and break through our crystal world again. But, oddly enough, the disoriented look on her face faded for just a few seconds. In all actuality, it was probably more like a minute, but it felt indefinitely shorter. She looked like she was actually enjoying herself! A hint of a smile swept across her face, the light shone in her eyes. I tightened my grip on her waist when she brought her head to my shoulder. So, this is what it felt like.... 

Then, it was over. She pushed herself away from me and shoved her way through the crowd. Damn, I thought that I might have actually gotten through to her that time. 

It was during this particular repeat of the most terrible day of my life that my father invited himself to the very place where I wanted him the least - my throne room. In the midst of the goblins and the rubble, there he appeared, in all of his glory. I can't say that I have ever disliked seeing anyone at any given moment than I did right then and there. And to top it all off, She was to make her entrance at any moment to face me and to reject me again. 

"Father, if you don't mind, I am kind of in the middle of something." The goblins took an early hint and scattered, leaving us alone. 

"That is why I am here. I am getting bored with watching you play the same game over and over again." 

"What do you mean?" 

At that moment, Sarah walked in with her little troupe and then turned to make her way up the staircase. My stomach tied itself in knots and my heart began to pound as she came closer. She was coming right for me, and yet acted as if she didn't even see me. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw my father raise his hand and heard him say, "That is far enough, young lady." 

Instantly, she froze where she was, suspended in time. She still carried a look of determination on her lovely features. Even when she wasn't moving, she was still hell-bent on defying me. 

I turned, mouth agape, towards my father, "What have you done? Put her back to the way she was! This is my problem, not yours!" 

"Sometimes, we have to look outside of ourselves for the answers to our problems." He smirked at me in a way that was all too familiar. 

I couldn't help but look at her. She stood, frozen in time, about to reject me again. Damn it, I think that I would die if she were to remember the words that would continue the horrendous cycle. I didn't want her to reject me, reject my offer of her dreams, my love, everything that she had ever wanted. Didn't she know that I could give it to her? I circled around her still frame, soaking in every detail of her. I looked into her hazel eyes, searching. They looked back at me, not moving, not displaying emotion. It wasn't right. There was something that I still wasn't able to understand. It unnerved me as much as the fact that Sarah, my Sarah, would never feel the same way that I felt about her. 

The man who called himself my father chuckled as he watched me circle the girl who had caused so much stress in my life as late. For all the heavens, I know that I love her. 

"Boy, do you remember the puzzles you had when you were younger?" He sounded highly amused, only adding to my agitation. 

"What puzzles?" I asked through clenched teeth. I hated it when he called me boy. 

"The puzzles that used to take you forever to figure out? The ones that were meant to teach you something about yourself?" 

"Yes. I remember having to work on them for days before I finally figured out how to solve them. I hated it." 

"When did you think that your education was over?" 

In disbelief I replied, "Well, I am a king, Father." 

"Being a monarch does not automatically make one completely educated." 

"You mean that this is another of your damned puzzles?" 

"What did you think it was?" 

"A mistake. I thought that it was fate playing a cruel joke." 

My father rolled his eyes and looked exasperated, despite the wide grin that had placed itself on his face. "For love of the Gods, did you really think that it was all a mistake? I couldn't have raised you right if that is what you are thinking. No, it doesn't have to do with a joke, but fate has something to do with it." 

"Fate? But, I don't understand..." 

He gestured to Sarah, "She does. She understands perfectly. She has just forgotten that she does. Thanks to me." 

"What do you mean, thanks to you? What did you do to her? If you have hurt her in anyway I swear I will..." 

"Oh, calm yourself! I can assure you that it is only a temporary case of memory loss. Now, all you have to do is figure out how to give her memory back to her." 

I didn't know what in the Underground he was babbling about, but I knew that he wasn't going to let me off the hook this time, "How do I do that?" 

"That is for you to figure out, Son." 

I knew he was going to say that. If there was one thing that I know about my family, its that they all find great delight in tormenting one another with an endless stream of riddles and puzzles. It was all too irritating. Fine, if that is the way he wanted it. 

"But how will I know once I have solved it?" 

Don't worry, you'll know. And, oh! I almost forgot. You have thirteen hours in which to solve this puzzle." 

Of course I do. 

* * * * * * * * 

I don't wish to recall the hours I spent staring at my beloved, trying to figure out a way to free her from her confines. Not a breeze would flutter her clothing, not a touch would blush her skin. I tried every trick I could think of, every spell and enchantment that I knew. Nothing worked. I toiled in silence, never saying a word to break the haunting quiet that filled my throne room. Even my father had found other things to do and had made himself scarce. Good. The last thing I needed was having him drop hints at me constantly. Then again, I would have been able to end this whole mess a lot sooner. But, I stubbornly did not want to believe this at the time. 

Five hours left 

Three hours left 

One hour left 

Much to my dismay, my father had found his way back into the throne room. He chuckled slightly at me, sitting cross-legged on the floor, head in my hands, right in front of Sarah's still form. I was beaten, and I knew it. 

"What's wrong? You can't be giving up this easily, can you? Your resolve needs serious nursing. You used to spend days trying to solve harder puzzles than this, and now you give up when the answer doesn't come to you in a few hours?" 

I didn't look up "This is a little different, Father. I didn't have a time limit on those. I know when I am beaten." 

"What is it that you want, Jareth? I want to help." 

"I want her to be mine! She belongs with me! She knows that she doesn't belong in that world, why can't I make her see that she loves me as much as I love her?" 

"She is not a possession, Jareth. She cannot belong to anyone." 

"But I love her." 

"Did you ever consider telling her?" 

Oh. 

"No." 

"Why not? If you are so adamant about the way that you feel about this girl, then why don't you do something about it?" 

"I've tried" 

"Yes, you have tried intimidation, and fear, and kidnapping, and all manner of other things. You have behaved in a beastly manner. I can't imagine how you picked up all of those things from me. I never behaved in such a manner." 

"Just call it my lack of contact with family, among other things." 

"Now son, you can't blame everything that goes wrong in your life on your family. Sometimes you really do create your own problems." 

"Father, you're talking in riddles and I hate it when you do that. Will you please just get to the damned point, already?" 

"Jareth, why don't you show her how you feel?" 

"She can't respond, she's frozen!" 

"Why don't you do it anyway? It wouldn't hurt." 

No, I supposed that it wouldn't. I walked over to her and faced the left side of her body. Her eyes gazed out onto the wall to my left, her lips slightly parted, waiting to say those hated words again. I raised my hand to brush the surface of her cheek, hoping that it would evoke some sort of movement from her. 

My fingertips tingled as they made contact with her skin. So soft, so smooth, and yet not responsive to my touch. Her eyes still staring off into space, the space where I had been when my father had frozen her time. I put myself into her gaze again, and thought I saw a glimmer of life in those deep pools of hers. Was it just my imagination playing tricks on me? I sighed, resigned to the fact that I was probably not going to win this time, either. Except, I knew that tomorrow would be another day, and I would not be seeing her again. My life would go on. Without her. Not even thinking, I said something that would change my world forever. 

"My dear Sarah. How can I show you that I love you?" 

From behind me, my father gave a sigh of relief, "Thank the Underground! He's not so much of a nit wit as I thought." 

Almost instantly, she began to move. Her arms fell to her sides, her eyes slowly opening and closing. She was looking not at me, but at my father. 

"My lord." A deep curtsey, a bowed head. Straightening up, she began to glow, softly at first, then with more and more intensity as the seconds ticked achingly on. Her image changed, her human clothes transforming themselves into a long flowing dress, her hair whipped about her face, growing several inches and magically styling itself. Her face, it remained the same. Perhaps aging a few years, but only causing her to become one of the most beautiful creatures that I have ever seen. 

The glow faded, and she looked at me, eyes twinkling madly. My knees threatened to give out. 

"My Lord Jareth. How nice it is to finally see you." 

I was stunned. Did the world begin to spin, or was it just my imagination? I wanted desperately to run to her, hold her, and kiss her senseless. All I managed to get out was, 

"Sarah?" 

She smiled as she heard her name. "Yes?" 

"Don't you remember what we were doing here just a while ago?" 

"Of course I do. I remember everything." 

"And you are talking to me like we grew up together? I'm the villain, remember? I took Toby. Several times, in fact." I'd lost count somewhere around twenty. 

"Well we didn't exactly grow up together, but we have met before, although, you may not remember me. However, I have to say that I remember you perfectly." Her eyes twinkled merrily as she continued to elude my line of thinking. Oh, how infuriating it all was! How is it that this mortal girl knew me before I took her brother? Even as she was making me increasingly frustrated with the whole mess, damn it all if her playful spirit wasn't causing me to fall head over heels for her all over again. 

"I don't quite understand." 

"No, you weren't meant to at first. But didn't we have fun trying to figure it out?" She was achingly close, close enough for me to cover her hand with mine. 

"You were in on the whole thing?" It came out barely a whisper. 

"Well, I was until your father replaced my memory. I honestly thought that I was doing it all to save my brother. He knew that I wouldn't be able to stand more than one or two times as myself, so he took away what was deemed dangerous and left in what he thought necessary. How else do you think that I could have solved the Labyrinth?" 

"What do you mean, dangerous?" 

"I knew that I wouldn't be able to keep the whole thing from you. So, he took out my knowledge of the Underground, my family, you , him, our entire world, almost." 

"I still don't think that I understand." 

"Son, Sarah is your intended. When it didn't appear that you would ever return to the court to fetch her, then she came up with this little plan." 

"I was never told about having an intended!" 

"Jareth, of course you were. You and Sarah met when she was just a small child. You were a mere teenager at the time, but I thought that you would have remembered such a momentous occasion. We wouldn't just throw you out here without some sort of plan for the future. Our family must go on. Even you as a king should have been able to figure that one out." 

Wisps of memories came flooding back to me. Considering I was going on an age of several hundred years, this was quite an accomplishment. Finally, I came across one that was of a small girl, one who beheld me with awe and wonderment, but not fear. All of the other children had always had a touch of fear in their eyes whenever they looked at me. I remembered being quite intrigued at the time, but not giving it much else thought. I had thought at the time that it was a shame that the girl wasn't older. She would have been interesting to have around. 

But here she was, standing in front of me who was looking like all the world for some idiot who can't even put together two sentences. Still, all in all, it amazed me that such a creature could have hatched a plan like this and actually talked my father into it. "And Sarah came up with this? All by herself?" 

"What, didn't you like it? The master of game playing is now beaten with his one of his own? 

"I never did anything like this! I never took away anyone's memory..." 

Sarah crossed her arms in front of her and raised her eyebrows. Was that a hint of a smirk on her face? Gods, she is beautiful. 

"Oh really? Then what was the whole interlude with the peach, Oh Mighty One?" 

My father roared with laughter. Great, he was laughing at my expense. This was just perfect. The woman that I loved was mocking me and my father was laughing at me. Can the situation get anymore humiliating? 

"Ahh! I can see that I did an excellent job picking her out. Although, I have to say that I had no idea that she would end up such a perfect match for you, Son!" 

Sarah blushed slightly and looked at the ground. She was still grinning madly, despite the fact that she knew that I was angry. Seeing her like this only caused my awkward situation seem unimportant. I cupped her chin with my hand and brought her face close to mine so that we were looking into each other's eyes. 

"No need to blush, Dearest Sarah. I have to say that I am in total agreement with my father. We are a perfect match." I wrapped my hand around her waist, bringing her to me and feeling her breathe. Her scent was intoxicating. It should have been illegal to smell the way she did. 

She giggled and looked me straight in the eye. " I thought that you would enjoy a little challenge. After all, it has been a long time since you were faced with something really difficult." 

"If this is the way our life is going to be, then I really am going to enjoy it." 

* * * * * * * * 

"I wish the goblins would come and take you away. Right now." 

Funny how a little phrase like that can change the course of your life. 

**The End**

So? Whadya think? Reviews and/or flames welcome.... 


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